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My Quarterly Update: Q3 2025

MarketBeat Team

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2025 Fifteen years ago, I considered myself a “portfolio entrepreneur” who had several very small online businesses together that made up a full-time income. I had personal finance websites, a press release distribution service, a SaaS that helped animal shelters raise money (GoGo Photo Contest), an online audiobook directory, and several …

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2025

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2025.  A few weeks ago, I met with a missionary named Chris for lunch. Our family has supported his work for many years and he and I have lunch once or twice per year to catch up. He told me about all the exciting things happening in his life, including becoming …

MarketBeat is Hiring: Web Developer (Full-Time)

MarketBeat Office

Are you a senior-level web developer looking for a high-impact role in a fast-growing company? MarketBeat is looking for an experienced back-end developer to join our team. Every day, we deliver stock market news to over 5 million investors, with our website attracting 20+ million visitors per month. Our work is dynamic, fast-paced, and always …

My Quarterly Update: Q1 2025

2025 marks the seventh anniversary of publishing quarterly updates on my blog. These updates serve as a tool to provide updates about my family, MarketBeat, Homegrown Capital, and the different community initiatives that MarketBeat supports. Many friends and acquaintances have told me they enjoy reading these updates, so I continue to write them and publish …

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2024

mirage

As we close out another quarter, it’s time to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that have shaped the last few months. This quarter brought a mix of personal and professional milestones, with a steady balance between family time and business growth. While some aspects of the market remain uncertain, we’ve continued to push forward …

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2024

MarketBeat Team Photo

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2024 A concept that I have been thinking a lot about lately is staying power. The longer that you work at something, the more likely you are likely to achieve outsized success. If you can work at the same job or on the same business for many years, even decades, eventually …

Highlights From My Commencement Speech at Dakota State University

 This past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to return to Dakota State University, my alma mater, in a role I never imagined when I graduated there sixteen years ago. Back then, I stood on the commencement stage as a hopeful young graduate, filled with dreams and anticipation for the future. This year, I …

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2024

Matt Office

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2024 “What drives you? What motivates you to do all that you do?” These two questions were recently asked of me by a local reporter who wanted to feature MarketBeat as part of an upcoming city event. They’re great questions, and we should all ask ourselves periodically. Why do we do …

My Quarterly Update: Q1 2024

My Quarterly Update: Q1 2024 For the last decade, I have been of the belief that there is immense value in creating a personal brand. A strong personal brand allows you to meet interesting people, develop long-term business relationships, and make a positive impact on people around the world. In some ways, I have been …

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2023

As I have gotten a little bit older, I have come to realize that the most effective people in the world do just a handful of things and do them extremely well. MarketBeat continues to grow, and I am entering what is likely to be the most demanding phase of my career. To be a …

MarketBeat is Quickly Growing, and We’re Looking to Expand Our Team!

In today’s world, finding the right company to work for can make all the difference. If you’re an experienced Digital Marketing Director or a Senior Graphic and Web Designer looking to level up your career, keep reading to learn why you should consider working at MarketBeat. As the largest digital media company in the Dakotas, …

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2023

I have recently gotten on a kick of watching videos of dead and dying malls on YouTube from creators like Dan Bell. These videos show highlights from when a given mall was at its peak and show how it has decayed over time. Some are even totally abandoned, filled with mold, and have collapsed ceilings. …

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2023

Crossing the finish line has been my theme for 2023 so far. Several business projects, such as MarketBeat’s new office, are coming to fruition this year. Many of Cresten’s commercial real estate projects that were started in 2020 and 2021 will be fully stabilized this year. Startup Sioux Falls’ downtown transition is complete. I am …

Email Marketing Mastery: 2023 Trendigital Presentation

Email Marketing Mastery: 2023 Trendigital Presentation

  Last week I took the stage at the Trendigital Summit to share my knowledge on the top 10 ways to improve your email marketing program in just 10 minutes. If you missed out on this event, go ahead and watch the replay here or download the presentation handout. We continue to see great results at …

My Quarterly Update: Q1 2023

2023 marks the fifth anniversary of publishing quarterly updates on my blog. These updates serve as a tool to provide updates about my family, my businesses, and the community initiatives that I support. Many friends, family members, and online followers have told me they really enjoy reading these updates, and I plan to continue publishing …

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2022

A new chapter of life has begun for the Paulson household. Both Micah and Ady are in school full time, marking the first time in ten years that Karine and I haven’t had a child at home during the day since Micah was born in 2012. Our children are also becoming more independent for their …

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2022

Summer 2022 has been marked by travel, writing, church activities, and focusing on my work at MarketBeat. It has also felt like a time of preparation for the pending transitions that will be happening both personally and professional in the next year. Both of my children will be in elementary school in the fall. Several …

My Quarterly Update: Q2 2022

2022 is shaping up to be a year of significant transition both personally and professionally. Our daughter Ady will be entering Kindergarten this fall, marking the first time we have had two kids in school full time since Micah was born in 2012. As MarketBeat grows, My role at the company is transitioning away being …

How Eight Years of Angel Investing Lead to the Launch of a New $17 Million Venture Fund

Eight years ago, I made my first angel investment in a company called Tradesy via Tim Ferris’s AngelList syndicate. Within a matter of months, I made several more investments in startup companies via AngelList. I also made a couple of angel investments directly in local companies. I didn’t know what I was doing at the …

Why You Should Come to Work at MarketBeat — We’re Hiring!

The MarketBeat Team

MarketBeat is an Inc. 5000 financial media company that empowers equity investors to make better trading decisions with real-time financial data, in-depth analysis, and best-in-class stock research tools. MarketBeat has been recognized by Barron’s, Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., and Prairie Business for its rapid growth and success. With more than 2.5 million email subscribers, MarketBeat is …

MarketBrew Documentary

Earlier this year, MarketBeat partnered with Remedy Brewing Company to produce MarketBrew, a limited-run charity beer in support of Call to Freedom, an anti-human trafficking organization in South Dakota. We created a short documentary about the project, which you can watch below.

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2021

When you are a community leader, sometimes the most exciting projects you are working on can’t be discussed publicly because they aren’t quite ready for primetime or because all of the pieces necessary to complete the project haven’t fallen into place. You might find yourself working on an important project for months, sometimes even years, …

Two-Way SMS is the Next Big Marketing Channel

Over the last fifteen years of running online businesses, I have had the opportunity to test and leverage many different marketing channels, including email, browser notifications, Twitter accounts, Facebook messenger bots, Instagram accounts, YouTube channels, and a few others. Just about every year, some new social media company comes out and encourages businesses and influencers …

Developing a Thriving Regional Startup Ecosystem Along the I-29 Corridor

South Dakota has some unique challenges when building community and capital resources for startup founders. We have a small and spread-out population compared to the rest of the country. There are also just fewer people working on developing high-growth technology startups at any given time, which makes it difficult to build a non-profit organization around …

Sioux Falls’ Startup Ecosystem is Stronger Than Ever. Here’s Why.

Developing a healthy startup ecosystem is important for any community because it provides entrepreneurs, startup founders, and small business owners critical business resources in the earliest stages of their businesses. It’s not always clear which startup will become the next major employer in town, but by offering resources to all of them, we can be …

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2021.

We have just eighteen summers with our children before they head off to college or into the working world. Over the course of a life, this is a small window to make memories with our little ones before they are not so little anymore. Summer 2020 was unique for many given that everyone’s schedules suddenly …

Apple is Killing the Email Tracking Pixel. Here’s How Email Marketers Should Adapt.

During the World Wide Developer Conference earlier in June, Apple announced that its mail client would start blocking tracking pixels which allow email marketers to know when a user has opened their email. Tracking pixels, which are referred to by some as “spy pixels,” are primarily used to determine which subscribers are active and which …

How to Find and Pitch Investors for Your Startup

Raising money for a small business or startup is perhaps easier now than it ever has been. There’s still a significant learning curve when it comes to identifying potential angel investors, getting a meeting with them and pitching your startup. Nick Horob from Harvest Profit and I recently did a webinar for Startup Sioux Falls …

How to Spot a Fake Business Growth Guru

Every now and then I receive a text, an email or a Facebook message asking me, “Hey, what do you think of [Person], that marketing and business guru that’s all over Facebook/YouTube/Instagram?” It can be difficult to determine if any given business expert or marketing guru is the real deal merely by looking at their …

Leadership Sioux Falls is Fundraising for New Playground Equipment at Hayward Park. Here’s How You Can Help.

Leadership Sioux Falls is a leadership development class put on by the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce that provides emerging leaders with personal development skills, education about local and state governments and professional networking opportunities. I’ve been meaning to apply to Leadership Sioux Falls for the last several years, but the dates always conflicted …

Sioux Falls to Celebrate Entrepreneurship Day on March 3, 2021

Beginning this year, Sioux Falls will celebrate Entrepreneurship Day on the first Wednesday of March. For the 2021 celebration taking place on March 3, the general public is invited to join the festivities by participating in a host of events organized by the teams at the Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship (Zeal) and Startup Sioux Falls.  …

The Biggest Mistake You Can Make with Your Email Sign-Up Forms

You are a savvy business owner. Maybe you listen to marketing podcasts and have read some popular business books. You understand that one of your business’s most valuable assets is its customer and prospect lists. You put an email sign-up form on your website to build your audience, perhaps incentivized by a discount coupon, a …

My 2020 Reading List

With 2020 mercifully coming to a close, I thought it would be a good time to highlight some of the non-fiction books that I have read this year. With two small children in our home, there is not a lot of uninterrupted free time to focus on a book. Consequently, most of my reading has …

How I Plan to Evaluate Charitable Giving Requests Moving Forward.

There are more than 500 registered non-profits that have 501(c)3 status in the greater Sioux Falls area, each with their own mission, vision, values, staff, and board of directors. Some non-profits operate on state or federal contracts or through grant programs, but most small non-profits rely primarily on charitable contributions from individual donors. One consequence …

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2020

As I write this post, COVID-19 numbers are spiking across the Midwestern states and there are more active cases now than at any point during the pandemic. While COVID-19 numbers do not look great in South Dakota currently, there does still seem to be a sense that things are slowly returning to normal. Micah and …

MarketBeat Named to Inc. 5000 “Hall of Fame”

Sioux Falls, SD, August 15, 2020 – Inc. Magazine has ranked MarketBeat No. 2296 on its 39th annual Inc. 5000 list, an exclusive ranking of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States. 2020 marked the 5th year that MarketBeat has been included on the Inc. 5000 list, giving the company a coveted “Hall of Fame” …

My Quarterly Update: Q3 2020

Over the last couple of months, I have had the opportunity to start wrapping up some long-term projects and “clear the plate” to make room for some new adventures in my life. Many people, including myself, have the bad habit of continuing to do things long after they have finished serving their purpose simply because …

Spark Sioux Falls Technology Panel

I had the opportunity to be on a panel discussion about how COVID-19 has impacted the information technology industry in Sioux Falls. Other panelists included Natalie Eisenberg, Click Rain; Dr. JoseMarie Griffiths, Dakota State University ; Mike Grigsby, City of Sioux Falls; and Michael Zuercher, Prismatic. You can watch the recording below: Spark Sioux Falls …

Preserving Cash is the Key to Your Business Surviving the COVID-19 Recession

We find ourselves in unprecedented times. Many small businesses have had to close their doors and furlough employees with no idea when they might be able to re-open. Unemployment claims have hit an all-time high and some are predicting that COVID-19 related job losses could reach 47 million. The United States economy is undoubtedly in …

How Younger Donors are Changing the Face of Charitable Giving in Sioux Falls.

A while back, I was invited to participate in a focus group of business leaders for the Sioux Falls Brand project which is a collaboration of the City, the Chamber, and the Development Foundation to develop a consistent brand and logo to use when promoting the city. The consultants asked our group several questions about …

My Quarterly Update: Q4 2019

It’s Christmas Eve as I publish this. MarketBeat’s work has largely wrapped up for the year. Our startup community events are on pause until mid-January. The never-ending buzz of social media has slowed to a crawl and my email inbox is surprisingly empty. Our kids are eagerly awaiting their Christmas presents and Micah is excited …

Morning Marketing Party #2 Announced

Startup Sioux Falls and Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship first hosted a Morning Marketing Party on October 4th. It was a great success with over 55 people in attendance, and we have decided to do it again! Please join us at Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship on Friday, February 14th at 8:30 AM. This is an opportunity …

Seven Volunteer Opportunities to Help Lead Sioux Falls’ Startup Ecosystem

Sioux Falls Startup community at the September Startup Social

In the last couple of weeks, our startup community has welcomed a fresh set of eyes that has provided a very helpful outside perspective on the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities that our startup ecosystem has. Zeal has brought on Kate Flemming, who was most recently the director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Millikin University, …

Mini-Mastermind Event

Startup Sioux Falls and and Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting a mini-mastermind event on November 27th at 9:00 AM at Zeal, 2329 N Career Avenue. This is getting to become somewhat of an annual tradition the day before Thanksgiving. Since 1 Million Cups usually takes that day off, we have this opportunity to …

Introducing Failure Fest

I’m pleased to announce another new event being put on by Startup Sioux Falls and Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship: Failure Fest. Most small businesses and startups fail, and that’s okay. Failure Fest is a unique event that celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit and recognizes that trying and failing to do something important is better than never …

How to Run a Successful Community Event for Small Business Owners and Startup Founders

I have been organizing community events for small business owners, startup founders and entrepreneurs for the last five years through a variety of different organizational umbrellas. The first event that I organized entirely on my own accord was a mini-mastermind event on November 26th, 2014 at the Sioux Falls Design Center. Since then, I’ve been …

Startup Horror Stories

I’m pleased to announce a Halloween event for the Sioux Falls Startup community. Startup Sioux Falls and Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship are hosting “Startup Horror Stories” on Thursday, October 31st at 9am. The event will take place out at Zeal, 2329 N Career Avenue. This event is geared toward small business owners and startup founders. …

South Dakota, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (Video)

I had the privilege of being on a panel with Ryan Swanstrom from Swanstrom Analytics and Jodi Schwan from SiouxFalls.Business at the South Dakota Technology Showcase event, which is put on by SDN Communications. During the panel, we discussed artificial intelligence initiatives from South Dakota companies, the role that higher education plays in training technology …

Morning Marketing Party

I’m excited to announce a new event coming up in about a week – the Morning Marketing Party. Being an entrepreneur or small business owner is sometimes a lonely gig, so opportunities like this are a great way to find connections while hopefully picking up a tip or two for your business. On Friday, October …

4 Characteristics Every Successful Business Owner Has in Common

There are many different reasons small businesses and startups fail, but there are four traits that I’ve seen in every successful entrepreneur I’ve ever met. I talk about them in this video. #startups #business #business #marketing #entrepreneurship #startup #souxfalls (Watch this Video on YouTube) Prefer to read instead of watch? Here’s a rough script I …

MarketBeat Featured at 1 Million Cups in Fargo

The 1 Million Cups community in Fargo, North Dakota invited Andy Jorgensen from Firebrothers Fireworks and myself to speak at their weekly event. We had the opportunity to travel to Fargo last week and talk about our businesses. The team at Forum Communications was kind enough to record our talks and the Q&A for posterity. …

How I’m Putting Together the Second Edition of Email Marketing Demystified

Watch this video on YouTube. Last fall, I was teaching a free class on email marketing at a local entrepreneurship center in my hometown of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. During the question and answer section of my talk, a friend noted that Email Marketing Demystified was written in 2015 and wondered if there was any …

Should You Enter the South Dakota Giant Vision Competition?

Every year, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development puts on a startup competition for South Dakota residents. There are some good reasons to apply and participate in the competition, but there are limits on how beneficial it can be for your company. Watch This Video on YouTube Learn more about Giant Vision at http://www.southdakotagiantvision.com/ Here’s …

The State of Venture Capital in South Dakota

Mike Vetter (CEO of DataSync), Tom Eitreim (Manager of Angel Funds and Market Research at The Enterprise Institute), Dwaine Chapel (Executive Director of The Research Park at South Dakota State University) and I sat down with Jackelyn Severin from South Dakota Public Broadcasting for their Making a Living program to discuss the start of venture …

How MarketBeat Grew by 71% in 2018

MarketBeat’s revenue grew by 71% in 2018, but it didn’t happen because of some amazing new marketing strategy, significant prices increases, new employees/talent, or an overheated market. There are two things we did in 2018 that allowed this growth to happen. We significantly increased advertising spend and I stopped trying to do any side projects …

How to Raise Money for Your Business in the Great Plains or the Midwest (Updated 11/18)

As the public face of Falls Angel Fund, I receive a lot of inquiries from entrepreneurs and would-be business owners that are looking to raise money to get their businesses off the ground. In the past couple of weeks, I have received inquiries from an entrepreneur running a medical devices startup, an entrepreneur running a …

Six Reasons I Won’t Sign Your NDA Before Having Coffee

As the chair of a community-based angel investment fund, I receive a lot of meeting requests from business owners that want to have a conversation about raising money for their business. These entrepreneurs usually have minimal business development and fundraising experience and are looking for a way to fund their future growth. I rarely get much out …

How to Build an Interest-Based Community on Facebook

Every successful community has a central hub for the sharing of ideas the facilitation of random social interactions. Churches have Sunday worship. Service clubs like Rotary and Kiwanis have weekly meetings. Geeks have game nights at local comic shops. These regular places of meeting provide members of a community a forum to engage other people …

Webinar Replay: How I Went from $500,000 to $4 Million Per Year Using Email, Web Push and Facebook Messenger

I recently recorded a webinar on how MarketBeat has leveraged web push notifications, email marketing and Facebook Messenger to grow our business from $500,000 per year in 2013 to over $4 million per year in 2018. We go over several practical tips in this hour long recording (and there’s no sales pitch at the end!). …

My 6 Tips For Growing Your Online Business Organically

woman working on a laptop

The following is a guest post by Victoria Greene. Victoria Greene is a branding consultant and freelance writer. On her blog, VictoriaEcommerce, you’ll find a wealth of articles covering how new business owners can get their brand off the ground. She is passionate about using her experience to help fellow entrepreneurs succeed. As anyone who has …

Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Sioux Falls Part 4: Educational Opportunities for Entrepreneurs

someone mentoring someone who is working on a business

A few weeks back, I wrote an important article focusing on the four things that the city of Sioux Falls will need if it is going to be a community that fosters new startup businesses that attract outside capital and create high-paying jobs. Since then, I have discussed capital availability, building community, and storytelling as …

Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Sioux Falls Part 2: Making Capital Available to Entrepreneurs

industry and nature in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

A few weeks back, I highlighted four things that the city of Sioux Falls will need if it wants to become a true entrepreneurial city that regularly spawns job-creating and capital-attracting startups. In short, if we want a stronger social community of entrepreneurs, we need to do a better job of sharing our success stories, …

Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Sioux Falls Part 1: Creating Community

A picture from the first Open Startup Coffee event in Sioux Falls

A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted four things that I believe Sioux Falls will need if it wants to follow the footsteps of Austin, Boulder and other startup communities and become a city that regularly spawns startups that create new jobs, attract investment capital and foster economic growth. We will need opportunities for collaboration …

Four Things Sioux Falls Needs to Become an Entrepreneurial City

Over the last several months, the business community in Sioux Falls has taken a renewed interest in the role that entrepreneurship plays in bettering the city. The Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship has become more prominent in the community with their recent rebrand and remodel, as well as their launch of an accelerator program. The closure …

When to Make Your First Hire in Your Online Business

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. You might think that you don’t have enough work to keep an employee or contractor busy or that you can’t afford to bring on a team member right …

Creative Ways to Make Money from Your Online Business

public speaking is a way to leverage your blog

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. There are several other creative strategies that you can use to make money in your business that don’t fall neatly into the broad categories of display advertising, affiliate …

How to Grow Your Business with Paid Advertising

paid advertising image of billboard

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. After your business is more established and you have begun to develop your own products and services, you can experiment with doing paid advertising to grow your email …

How to Use Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in Your Business

Business binders with POLICIES and PROCEDURE words on labels place on process flow charts, pen pointing at document word

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. A standard operating procedures (SOP) is a written document that explains how people working at your company should complete a specific task and why they should complete it …

Seven Tips to Successfully Manage Your Team

I love my job

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. Many people think that managing others isn’t hard and that they would be a pretty good boss given the opportunity, but creating an environment with good communication and …

How to Find and Hire Your First Team Member

Young candidate having an interview with his employer

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. I have probably hired about two dozen people between employees and contractors over the course of the last decade. I have never created a single job posting or …

What Tasks to Delegate and Outsource in Your Business

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. If you are at your maximum workload capacity and are looking to bring someone on to lighten your load, make a list of your current work-related responsibilities and …

Should I Hire an Employee or Bring on an Independent Contractor?

contractors file vs having employees

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. In the United States, there are two broad categories of workers—employees and independent contractors. Employees tend to work for a single company and contractors tend to do a …

Starting a Business? You Need a Team

working inside a box to signify working in your business vs working on your business

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com. There are two broad categories of work related to your business—working on your business and working in your business. If you have read the book E-Myth by Michael …